Zhou Xiaoyan, an HIV carrier who caused a sensation in China when she married a Hong Kong man in October, is living happily with her husband in Shenzhen, the Daily Sunshine reported Wednesday.

The couple said they would stay in Shenzhen until Zhou obtained her Hong Kong residency permit.

Zhou, who comes from a village in Quxian County in Sichuan Province, left her hometown after finishing primary school. From then on, she made a living in Shenzhen.

Zhou met Liang Yonghao in 2001 when she was working as an assembly worker in Shenzhen. Liang, 37, worked in the same factory.

Zhou found she was HIV positive after taking the compulsory marriage health check in September.

To the surprise of many people, news of Zhou's condition did not change the feelings of her fiance. The couple got married Oct. 15.

Liang said they cherished the marriage very much and applied cautions to daily life under the advice of medical experts.

Liang said he believed his wife, who said she had been infected by needles in illegal clinics when she went to see a doctor.

He was angry that many newspapers had made wild guesses that she had contracted the disease through casual sex.

"Being an HIV carrier has already been a disaster for her. If I leave her, it will be a deadly blow to her," he said.

Liang did not tell his parents about Zhou's disease.

"I'm worrying about how long she will live," he said.

(Shenzhen Daily December 4, 2003)